this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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Science Memes

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A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 100 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] cobysev@lemmy.world 63 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yup, because of his comic about it, paleontologists have officially named it the Thagomizer.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I like when stuff like this happens.

[–] spinne@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

Me too. It feels like some piece of the Universe slipping into just the right place.

[–] lividweasel@lemmy.world 85 points 1 week ago

“Mom, I want a thagomizer!”

“We have a thagomizer at home.”

The thagomizer at home:

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 68 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

This meme and the Far Side comic it references always makes me think of this meme:

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 days ago

there are other Edges of Annihilation, but this one is mine

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 64 points 1 week ago (1 children)

From wikipedia

Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip The Far Side, and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education.

Also wikipedia

The term was picked up initially by Kenneth Carpenter, then a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who used the term when describing a fossil at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting in 1993. Thagomizer has since been adopted as an informal anatomical term and is used by the Smithsonian Institution, the Dinosaur National Monument, the book The Complete Dinosaur and the BBC documentary series Planet Dinosaur. The term has also appeared in some technical papers describing stegosaurs and related dinosaurs.

How is this still "informal" when all the big guy using that? You can't just anthagomize someone because they aren't from the same community!

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This comment is great just for "anthagomize," a word autocorrect really didn't want to grant me.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Honestly i just wanna make that pun.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

That was clear!

[–] GheeButtersnaps@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I have the Thagomizer comic hanging at my desk because I was raised on Larson and to always remind me that silliness can make a profound impact.

[–] Godric@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

Named after the late Thag Simmons...

[–] UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What crazy timing. I've been cooking the past couple hours and randomly thought about the thagomizer.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

let's be honest, we all think about the thagomizer every few hours

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's better than constantly thinking about the Roman Empire

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

ooo, can you imagine if hannibal attached thagomizers to the elephants noses

[–] racemaniac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm not supposed to tell you this, but this is not random. you're basically in the truman show, and you're the central character. They noticed you thinking about it, so made sure it became relevant again!

[–] UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sorry for such a lackluster show if it comes down to making sure I'm looking at the correct memes

[–] racemaniac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

meh, it's not as if there's anything better on TV